Issue 141 (May 2009) of Toyfare magazine has an excellent interview with Mattel Associate Brand Manager, Scott Neitlich about their upcoming line of Ghostbuster figures. I’d recommend that everyone that can check out the article do so (no scans in the comments please), but here are a couple of interesting points to come out of the most informative article on the Mattel toys to date;

– Mattel has the rights to the classic movies, the cartoons, the video game, and provided it goes into production in the next couple of years, a third movie.

– Mattel has likeness OKs for Ayrkoyd, Ramis, and Hudson, with several sculpts ready and waiting for Bill Murray’s final sign off.

– Mattel is hoping to get the likeness OKs from other primary actors, such as William Atherton, Rick Moranis, Sigourney Weaver, Annie Potts, and even David Marguiles (Mayor Lenny.)

– Mattel plans to produce cartoon figures as well as the classic films. If a third movie is made, they intend to produce age targeted brands – high detail for the adult collectors and cutesy, Super Hero Squad-esque figures for kids.

– Figures will be packed with a ghost, with Slimer, the Librarian, and Taxi Driver ghosts currently in mind. Plans are in the works for Gozer, the Terror Dogs, and Stay-Puft, but are leaving them until much later due to NECA’s “Excellent” line of figures.

There’s also a call-out section on the MiniMate Ghostbusters, which suggest a good possibility of an exclusive Slimer at some future point.

There are also some sweet pictures of the figures, including an illustration of the never-before used shoulder joint the 12 inch figures will be using (trust me, that kind of thing is important to figure collectors.) Thanks to Randy and Jack for the heads-up!